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Monthly Archives: July 2012

Basically from now on I am officially judging everyone I meet by their zodiac signs… (not really). However, I do think we should consider these when we observe how people handle certain situations. Knowing someone’s zodiac sign could be the perfect explanation to some of the behaviors they exhibit. For example, I am a Scorpio, the fiercest of them all if I do say so myself, and it is actually frightening how perfectly I fit the description of this zodiac sign. You can either recognize that you posses these traits and use them to blame as an excuse for your behavior, or you can try to tone down the not so good ones by developing patience and understanding.

I’m not really sure how much of this I actually believe, but in my experience, all of my friends possess and act almost exactly the way each of their zodiac signs describe them as. I think people should use this to their advantage to find out more about a person by simply finding out their birthdays. I decided to write about this because the other night I had the funniest conversation with my friend about how accurate zodiac signs seem to be, and apparently she caught onto this early on and told me a few reasons why knowing someone’s zodiac sign can help. First of all, it is great to look up the zodiac sign of a guy you meet and start talking to to see if there is anything you should be aware of and if they are potentially compatible with your sign. My friend told me she looks them up all the time to scope out “eligible bachelors.” In addition, knowing some of the traits of a friend’s zodiac sign can prepare you to deal with them when they are in a rough situation, or if you are in a fight with them. This might also help you understand a person better if you seem to feel a barrier, or if there is confusion between you and a friend or partner.

Despite all of that, everyone is unique regardless of their zodiac sign and you can’t base all of your assumptions on this. However, these are traits that people are born with and some will possess them forever. Instead of fighting the bad qualities in a person, recognize them and accept people for what they are because nobody is perfect and you will never find someone that is so perfectly compatible that you will never have an argument with them. It is possible to work past peoples’ flaws and opposite behaviors by showing compassion and understanding. I use myself as an example when I say that I know I, a scorpio, am a lot to handle and can be very difficult at times, but as I belt out “Take me for what I am,” from RENT, I realize that while maturity allows me to suppress my intense emotions, I can’t help if I feel them once in a while.

I decided to play a sort of game and compare all of my friends to their signs and, it did in fact explain a lot of their strange and inexplicable behaviors, which made me laugh and love them even more! Zodiac signs are fun and I will definitely keep them in mind the next time I meet someone new just to see if they do actually end up helping me!

I have realized, now more than ever, that there is no reason why people shouldn’t be leaving their comfort zones and taking risks every day. I honestly don’t understand what we are so afraid of…rejection? So what! Life is filled with successes and failures and we are all bound to be let down a few times in our lives. That doesn’t mean we should try to prevent these failures by playing it safe and holding back whatever urges we have to do or say.

No matter how bad rejection is, the hurt from it will not kill us, and therefore we have nothing to lose. If you want to bungee jump off of a bridge, do it! If you want to tell someone you love them, say it! If you want to fight for what you believe in, go for it! The worst that can happen is you will end up in the same position that you started in, and trust me, that is not a reason to sit on the fence about something.

This past weekend, I took a very large risk and said some things that needed to get off my chest. Although it didn’t end in the way I had hoped it would, I knew the reality of my situation happened for a reason and I am sure it will all lead to something really good! I feel much better now because I said what I wanted to say, I know my worth, and I now will never have to look back and wonder what might have happened if I never said anything.

I am learning to live my life with absolutely no regrets, and the only way to do that is to have a lot of “guts,” or in a more proper term, courage. Reach for the sun and be ballsy! You have nothing left to lose and you will certainly surprise people and gain admirers. It takes a lot of positive thoughts and self confidence to have even a little bit of hope that the risk you are willing to take will result in your favor. What people don’t seem to understand is, everything always works out! Just because something doesn’t go the way you want it to in short term, it could lead to something amazing long term, and then you will look back and be so thankful that things happened the way they did. Our minds need to contradict Newton’s Law of Gravity and realize that what goes down, must go up!

So as John Mayer so nicely put it: Say What You Need to Say, and live your life to it’s fullest, because after all, what’s life without a little risk?

Words could not describe my excitement when I heard that one of my all time favorite bands, No Doubt, is getting back together and releasing a new album after about a decade!! Talk about a blast from the past! No Doubt is set to perform on stage as their first comeback appearance at the July 22 Teen Choice Awards.

No Doubt also just released their first single of the album titled “Settle Down,” which I must say is AWESOME! Everyone get excited for their new album to come out and until then, here is the music video to their new single.

Despite the exhausting heat here in Florida, I have noticed that many women will still brave it out and wear jeans in the summertime. I suppose if you are going to suffer through the heat, you might as well do it with style! This summer the new trend to watch out for are bright jeans, coming in almost every color in the rainbow.

These jeans are super cute and can actually match with a lot more things than you would think! Pair these up with a solid color top, some cute wedges, a bulky necklace and you’re ready to go!

You can purchase these pants at many stores and online, including, Macy’s, Urban Outfitters, and J.Crew.

Color blocking is very popular nowadays, so wearing these pants with another bright color could also add to the “summer” feel of your style!

The way I see it, these colored pants probably won’t go out of style anytime soon, seeing as you can keep it simple by pairing them with a solid black top, or by taking some risks and wearing another colorful top or bright shoes with them. They are definitely worth an investment!

It is absolutely true what they say; rely on quality, not quantity when it comes to choosing your friends. I cannot believe how many things happen in a year and how my life has drastically changed in such a short time span! Just last year, I was stuck in high school, miserable because I had a lot on my plate without a strong support system of friends and all I did everyday was count down the days until my life would change for the better. My biggest wish was to make the most amazing friends in the world and it’s crazy how quickly that wish came true.

Basically, on my first few days at UF, I found myself instantly connecting to these awesome people, some of which were old camp friends, some in my classes, and some living in my dorm. All of a sudden this awesome group of friends had formed consisting of people with the most dynamic and witty personalities you could ever imagine. For the first time in my life, I was meeting people who understood me and were on the same maturity level as me and it felt amazing. The great thing about college is you don’t have to be friends with everyone, nor do you have to be fake to anyone either; there are too many people at this university for there to be an “in crowd,” so everyone can go at their own pace and really find the people who matter the most and will positively impact our lives.

Most people meet their best friends at early childhood, but I had to wait 18 years to meet mine, and I can definitely say it was well worth the wait because I know they will be my lifelong friends! I sometimes wonder if I made the right decision or not to attend UF, but I’m glad life has forced me down this path, otherwise I would have never met my friends. I have never met a group of such wonderful people who have cared so much, have put up with me, and have been there for me through good times and bad times. I feel so lucky and happy to have these people in my life and I love them so much! Here’s to all the best friends in this world, and may they keep on inspiring us everyday!

Lately, I have been feeling that most people I am around, mainly college students in general are so tense and uptight about everything. I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of this as well, but I have definitely noticed that it is time for a change and time for people to just let go and relax their mind just a little bit. We need to get the whole “it’s my way or the highway,” outlook out of our systems for good because that is not how life works, and if you do think that way, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of disappointments. Excuse me for my lack of class and etiquette when I say that people need to take those sticks out of their butts! If you are making plans with friends, or anyone in that matter and they don’t go exactly as you planned, don’t freak out about it! You will get to where you’re supposed to go, even if it takes a little longer, and if you don’t end up there, you will probably find something else to do that might be even more fun.

People sometimes view every situation in their lives as if they are a life or death circumstance. For example, if you get a bad grade in an important class, sure you can be upset, but no your life is not over, and no you still will get into grad school. We all need to start trying to see the bigger picture in life and not sweat the small things. Think of it this way, if you did get that bad grade, is that really going to stop you from pursuing the career you want? Absolutely not. You will become exactly what you planned to be, even if it takes a little longer, or you take a different route than you had planned to get there. Don’t kill yourself over petty things that will become insignificant in a few months or years. It is not worth it, and you will develop a lot of wrinkles earlier than you had thought!

On another note, I really think people need to stop being so selfish and again look at the bigger picture, and focus on what’s really important in life. Believe it or not, it’s not always about “me me me,” you are one percent of more than 6 billion people in this world, so if you think of it that way, you are pretty small. We need to all try to be the best we can be, but not act like savages and push others down on our path to get there. We should all be considerate of everyone and before pre-judging or just shrugging someone off, try to see where they have come from and how they are working hard to find what all of us are looking for; happiness and satisfaction. The thing is though, we are always searching for either someone or something to make us happy, which in turn causes us to eventually move on to another someone or something to try and do the same thing. That is a never ending vicious cycle that will continue until we finally see that all you need to be happy is yourself, if you have the right outlook on life. We need to enjoy the “ride,” not wait to be happy until we finally “get there,” because believe it or not, once you feel you have achieved “greatness”, you really can’t go too many places in your life after that, and therefore that happiness will be short lived. Be considerate of others, appreciate the small things in life, but don’t sweat the small things either. Try to learn something new everyday and just be happy that you are who you are and believe me, others do appreciate you more than you know.

On our nation’s 236 birthday, I spent the day having an absolute blast with all of my friends in Gainesville. We decked out in red, white & blue, sang along to good old country songs, and BBQ-ed all day long! The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays because as far as attire is concerned, the cornier you are with your patriotism, the better you look, and there is nothing wrong with being a proud American. Of course the night continued with a fireworks show that I could view from my very own porch!

I’m back!! I have returned from my wonderful trip to the mountains of North Carolina, and boy was it tough leaving there! I always have a good time when I visit, but for some reason this trip made me fall in love, and I wish I could stay there forever. Here are some of the highlights of my trip and I suggest anyone visiting the area should check these places out.

Soco Falls: Located just as you enter the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Soco Falls trail is a great place to hike because it has good diversity in it’s uphill/downhill paths, and you get to see this amazing waterfall at the end!

Fontana Lake: This magnificent lake stretches about 30 miles or so and is perfect for kayaking, skiing, or even riding an aluminum boat and having to bail out water with plastic cups after hitting a wave from a speed boat. (That totally didn’t happen to me…). Along the sides of the mountains is the most beautiful granite I have ever seen and luscious trees make for a gorgeous view!

Great Smokey Mountains National Park: Take a drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway and stop along the way at the many gorgeous overlooks and travel through some cool tunnels. The visitor center has a great trail along the Ocanaluftee River and a mini museum of the history of civilization in the Smokey Mountains.

Nantahala Outdoor Center: One of the best white water rafting areas in the country! My dad and I put on our wetsuits and ventured through the rapids in a small 2 seater kayak and actually survived the big falls at the end.

Downtown Asheville: This is probably one of the most eclectic and diverse cities I’ve ever been to. There is so much life here from the young population of hippies and college students, to the extreme vegetarian/vegan friendliness, to the amazing music scene. For me, the highlights were eating the most amazing pizza at the Mellow Mushroom, shopping for awesome tapestries/unique clothing, and spending hours people watching!

drum circle

Lake Junaluska: Located just outside Maggie Valley, this lake is surrounded by the most beautiful mountains and is a great 3 or so mile circle to both bike and walk. During the summer, they have the rose walk with thousands of roses to gush over.

I had the most amazing time visiting with my family! From our many adventures, to eating awesome food and watching amazing views, I can surely say North Carolina is one of the most beautiful places on earth.